splinter-keep/session/session_log.md

Session Log — 2026-06-23

• World Change: World and Keep established. Character created: Dillion (Guardian, failed jester, secret princess).

• Morning — Splintered Tankard. Dillion checks the notice board at Market Square. Notices: mill at Three Bridges clicking at night (ask Weber's Smithy), vanished caravan (Guild, 15 silver), bones wanted in Amber Hills (2 silver/skeleton at Guild Hall), lost signet ring (ask Fenna's Curios).

• Late Morning — Asks Otta about the mill. She warns it's been dead ten years — just kids' dares and rat droppings.

• Late Morning — Weber's Smithy. Meets Weber (hunchbacked smith, talks to his hammer "Bell"). Counters Weber's 5 silver offer to 15, settles at 8 silver + free mace sharpening if danger. Spit-handshake seals it. World Change: Weber added as known NPC; mill job accepted.

• Late Morning — Catches Lark in the Market Square. Asks him about the mill — Lark heard scratching, knows about a loose board. Pressed further — he saw a dark shape moving inside. Dillion recruits him with promise of loot.

• Late Morning — Grabs a pitchfork from a market stall for Lark. They head east on the King's Road.

• Noon — Arrive at Three Bridges. Scout the perimeter. Spot a dark shape through the window, motionless. Find the loose board behind the wheel.

• Noon — Pry the board open. Light a torch. Crawl inside the storage room.

• Noon — Combat! A pale sinewy creature drops from the ceiling. Dillion wins initiative, smashes it into the wall for 2 damage. Finishes it with a head shot (5 damage). Creature is dead. Found 3 silver and a rusted iron key in its gut. Cut off an ear as a trophy for Weber.

• Noon — Opens the iron-bound chest with the key. Inside: 12 silver, a silver locket with auburn hair, a bundle of love letters from "Marren" to "Elara" — hints the miller was watched. World Change: Thread deepened — the miller's disappearance involved more than just the creature. Head upstairs.

• Noon — Upstairs: creature's nest. Found a journal (miller trapped the creature, Guild stored something in the cellar, hooded watchers) and a clay jar of grey powder with a note: "For the lock. Sprinkle on the hasp."

• Noon — Finds a padlocked trapdoor behind a collapsed shelf. Sprinkles the grey powder on the lock. Yells an insult into the darkness below.

• Noon — A juvenile of the same creature climbs up — killed with one mace blow (7 damage). Lights a fresh torch, drops it into the cellar — reveals an iron chest and a woman. She claims she was hired to crack the chest, ambushed by hooded figures, locked in for three days. Lark pats her down — clean. Dillion jumps down to explore the cellar.

• Noon — The woman is Rina, a locksmith. Chest contained something long (oilcloth). Found a brass button with a crest: a fist gripping a gear. Dillion peers into the crack — a natural tunnel sloping down, likely passing under the river.

• Noon — Decides to head back to the Keep first. Report to Weber, get paid, gear up Rina, then return to explore the tunnel.

Session Log — 2026-06-24

• Early Afternoon — Back at the Keep. Head to Weber's Smithy with Rina and Lark. Dillion tells Rina they'll settle with Weber first, then get her rested.
• Early Afternoon — Weber pays 8 silver and sharpens the mace (1d6+2 for next job). Asks if Rina is "one of Fenna's lot." Dillion explains she was locked in the cellar.
• Early Afternoon — Dillion, Rina, and Lark head to the Splintered Tankard. Dillion asks Otta to help Rina get cleaned up. Otta agrees — sends Rina to the back for a bath, finds her a change of clothes.
• Early Afternoon — While Rina recovers, Dillion hits the Market Square. Buys 6 torches (6 copper) and 5 days rations (5 silver). Pays Lark 5 silver for his help and sends him off. Lark leaves with a grin.
• Early Afternoon — Dillion sits down with Rina to learn her skills and background. She's a locksmith and trap-finder, proficient with a crossbow and dagger. Dillion takes her to Weber's for a crossbow, then to the market for a leather vest.
• Late Afternoon — Dillion and Rina head back to Three Bridges on the King's Road. Bought two long ropes on the way (4 silver). Reach the mill as the sun begins to dip. Enter through the loose board, descend into the cellar tunnel.
• Late Afternoon — Cautious descent into the tunnel. Air grows acrid — blood, decay, mint. The rough-hewn tunnel slopes steadily down, walls sweating moisture. After ~15 minutes, the tunnel opens into a natural cavern. Faint light pulses from bioluminescent fungi on the ceiling. A stone door with the fist-and-gear crest stands on the far wall, slightly ajar.
• Late Afternoon — Dillion decides to enter through the ajar stone door. Sneaks in successfully (DEX 5). Rina spots a tripwire — they step over it and proceed into the chamber beyond.
• Late Afternoon — Chamber contains a tall construct (grey stone skin, red eyes, cloth/rusted metal armour). It watches but doesn't attack. Dillion and Rina edge along the wall toward the left corridor without triggering it.
• Late Afternoon — Left corridor leads to an iron-banded wooden door with a heavy lock. Rina picks it while Dillion stands watch.
• Late Afternoon — Beyond the door: a storage room with two men (Beard and Scar) on guard duty. Dillion and Rina slip into cover behind crates (DEX 9). Ambush: Rina bolts Scar through the neck, Dillion cuts Beard's throat. Both killed silently.
• Late Afternoon — Bodies hidden. Dillion searches the guards (19 silver, key ring, handbill). Rina finds delivery manifests and a note mentioning "The Weeper" and "H." Dillion takes the loot and moves to the iron-reinforced door. Listens. Opens it safely with a rope from behind crates. Beyond: a dark tunnel sloping downward, humid air, slow rhythmic breathing sound.
• Late Afternoon — Dillion and Rina descend into the tunnel. It opens into a chamber with a pit at the centre — chains descending into darkness, slow wet breathing from below. A second iron door on the far side. Dillion and Rina skirt the pit silently (DEX 7). Beyond the door: a hallway with a velvet curtain, warm light and a chanting voice beyond. Dillion peeks: a weaver's study, chalk circle with a dagger at the centre. He pulls back to consult Rina.

Session Log — 2026-06-25

• Early Afternoon — Back at the Keep. Head to Weber's Smithy with Rina and Lark. Dillion tells Rina they'll settle with Weber first, then get her rested.
• Early Afternoon — Weber pays 8 silver and sharpens the mace (1d6+2 for next job). Asks if Rina is "one of Fenna's lot." Dillion explains she was locked in the cellar.
• Early Afternoon — Dillion, Rina, and Lark head to the Splintered Tankard. Dillion asks Otta to help Rina get cleaned up. Otta agrees — sends Rina to the back for a bath, finds her a change of clothes.
• Early Afternoon — While Rina recovers, Dillion hits the Market Square. Buys 6 torches (6 copper) and 5 days rations (5 silver). Pays Lark 5 silver for his help and sends him off. Lark leaves with a grin.
• Early Afternoon — Dillion sits down with Rina to learn her skills and background. She's a locksmith and trap-finder, proficient with a crossbow and dagger. Dillion takes her to Weber's for a crossbow, then to the market for a leather vest.
• Late Afternoon — Dillion and Rina head back to Three Bridges on the King's Road. Bought two long ropes on the way (4 silver). Reach the mill as the sun begins to dip. Enter through the loose board, descend into the cellar tunnel.
• Late Afternoon — Cautious descent into the tunnel. Air grows acrid — blood, decay, mint. The rough-hewn tunnel slopes steadily down, walls sweating moisture. After ~15 minutes, the tunnel opens into a natural cavern. Faint light pulses from bioluminescent fungi on the ceiling. A stone door with the fist-and-gear crest stands on the far wall, slightly ajar.
• Late Afternoon — Dillion decides to enter through the ajar stone door. Sneaks in successfully (DEX 5). Rina spots a tripwire — they step over it and proceed into the chamber beyond.
• Late Afternoon — Chamber contains a tall construct (grey stone skin, red eyes, cloth/rusted metal armour). It watches but doesn't attack. Dillion and Rina edge along the wall toward the left corridor without triggering it.
• Late Afternoon — Left corridor leads to an iron-banded wooden door with a heavy lock. Rina picks it while Dillion stands watch.
• Late Afternoon — Beyond the door: a storage room with two men (Beard and Scar) on guard duty. Dillion and Rina slip into cover behind crates (DEX 9). Ambush: Rina bolts Scar through the neck, Dillion cuts Beard's throat. Both killed silently.
• Late Afternoon — Bodies hidden. Dillion searches the guards (19 silver, key ring, handbill). Rina finds delivery manifests and a note mentioning "The Weeper" and "H." Dillion takes the loot and moves to the iron-reinforced door. Listens. Opens it safely with a rope from behind crates. Beyond: a dark tunnel sloping downward, humid air, slow rhythmic breathing sound.
• Late Afternoon — Dillion and Rina descend into the tunnel. It opens into a chamber with a pit at the centre — chains descending into darkness, slow wet breathing from below. A second iron door on the far side. Dillion and Rina skirt the pit silently (DEX 7). Beyond the door: a hallway with a velvet curtain, warm light and a chanting voice beyond. Dillion peeks: a weaver's study, chalk circle with a dagger at the centre. He pulls back to consult Rina.
• Late Afternoon — Dillion weighs the options — wait for the ritual to finish and snatch the artifact, or strike now. Rina warns it's blood magick. The weaver's chant climbs toward its peak. Decision hangs in the air.